:00:00. > :00:00.decisions it took during the financial crisis. It has announced
:00:00. > :00:16.that top management will not get bonuses this year. Now for Asia
:00:17. > :00:20.Business Report. Emerging markets and investor
:00:21. > :00:26.concerns. We find out what is driving the fall of Asian markets.
:00:27. > :00:30.All eyes on India. What will the country's Central bank do next to
:00:31. > :00:37.spur on economic growth while keeping inflation in check? Welcome
:00:38. > :00:43.to the programme. This is Asia Business Report. We begin with a
:00:44. > :00:50.look at the Asian stock markets and how they are doing in mid-morning
:00:51. > :01:01.Tuesday trade. Shares fell overnight after concerns of the Federal
:01:02. > :01:05.Reserve. There has also been trouble in Latin America and Argentina where
:01:06. > :01:08.the country's sliding currency sparked a sell-off on Wall Street,
:01:09. > :01:14.which has spread all the way to the region. Today, we have a mixed
:01:15. > :01:32.reaction to the developments on Wall Street overnight.
:01:33. > :01:49.Are emerging markets in real trouble? Earlier, I spoke with our
:01:50. > :01:55.guest and asked him what we expect to see in the weeks to come. 2013
:01:56. > :02:01.was a great year for everyone. Right now, we have a hangover. It was a
:02:02. > :02:05.great party and people are feeling some pain. We believe this hangover
:02:06. > :02:15.will soon go away and the situation is not dire. Emerging markets have
:02:16. > :02:21.many problematic points. In general, the contagion effect of 1997 and
:02:22. > :02:25.1998... We just don't see that happening in this environment.
:02:26. > :02:30.Focusing on the current crisis in Argentina, how important are the
:02:31. > :02:36.Latin American markets to Asian companies? Certain individual
:02:37. > :02:40.companies can have increased exposure but overall, the effect of
:02:41. > :02:47.Argentina on the Japanese economy is frankly negligible. How China is
:02:48. > :02:53.doing, how the US is doing, Japan's first and second largest trading
:02:54. > :02:58.partners are the most important. For south-east Asian Nations, it's about
:02:59. > :03:05.Japan, China and India. They are the three drivers of the emerging
:03:06. > :03:14.economies in the region. Good swings in Latin American, -- Latin American
:03:15. > :03:21.economies trickle down to other small economies in the region? Some
:03:22. > :03:25.companies can be impacted, yes, but this is part of our overall theory
:03:26. > :03:37.that 2014 World Cup stock picker's year. -- will be a stock picker's
:03:38. > :03:40.year. Individual stock movements up and down will be much more dramatic
:03:41. > :03:53.and we believe there is a chance that the indices may potentially
:03:54. > :03:59.rich below negative single digits. Apple has reported better than
:04:00. > :04:04.expected earnings for the October to December quarter. The company's
:04:05. > :04:08.shares were down in extended trading in the US after it failed to reach
:04:09. > :04:15.expectations for sales of its iPhone. 51 million units were sold,
:04:16. > :04:20.down from 55 million expected by many analysts. The sales outlook is
:04:21. > :04:26.also lower for 2014, concerning investors. However, double-digit
:04:27. > :04:33.revenue growth was recorded for the period in China and Japan. Where is
:04:34. > :04:40.the investor disappointment coming from? This is less about current
:04:41. > :04:44.results as it is about the upcoming quarter full of having made
:04:45. > :04:48.announcements about the partnership in China, analysts were expect them
:04:49. > :04:54.continued growth in iPhone sales in the Chinese market. We also expect
:04:55. > :04:57.sales going up globally in the coming quarter. Apple has indicated
:04:58. > :05:02.slightly lower than expected growth in numbers for that coming quarter,
:05:03. > :05:06.and that is what is bothering the stock market. But investors should
:05:07. > :05:15.not be bothered about the growth in China, coming forward, and this is
:05:16. > :05:22.before China Mobile started selling the iPhone in earnest. It is a
:05:23. > :05:26.tremendous opportunity there and it will drive iPhone sales over the
:05:27. > :05:31.next quarter. However, in the announcement, Tim Cook was cautious
:05:32. > :05:34.about the growth of iPhones in the upcoming quarter and that is what
:05:35. > :05:41.has kept analysts worried about the future of Apple and growth in the
:05:42. > :05:45.coming quarters. And lower iPhone sales will cast a long shadow over
:05:46. > :05:53.the smartphone industry because we also have some sound warning of weak
:05:54. > :05:58.earnings. -- Samsung warning of weak earnings. It indicates that they may
:05:59. > :06:03.have reached a plateau. People are not replacing their smartphones as
:06:04. > :06:08.quickly as the analysts and defenders would like. There is a
:06:09. > :06:14.slowdown in the replacement cycle. I believe the pace of innovation has
:06:15. > :06:22.slowed. We have to accelerate that case if we need to keep the top end
:06:23. > :06:26.of the market. On the one hand, we have not done enough in the emerging
:06:27. > :06:42.markets like China and India, where there is a large population still
:06:43. > :06:47.yet to be tapped for smartphones. Shares in Japan's Electronics giant
:06:48. > :06:53.Sony have fallen by as much as 3% in the US after its credit rating was
:06:54. > :06:58.reduced to junk status on Monday. Shares were also slightly down in
:06:59. > :07:01.Japan in morning trade. Moody 's said it was concerned about the
:07:02. > :07:09.television and PC business, both of which face tough global competition.
:07:10. > :07:17.The operators of the virtual currency Bitcoin have been arrested
:07:18. > :07:19.in the US. Robert Faiella and Charlie Shrem has been charged with
:07:20. > :07:23.money-laundering. Authorities said the pair were engaged in a scheme to
:07:24. > :07:28.sell more than $1 million of Bitcoins to users of the Silk Road
:07:29. > :07:39.website, which was shut down last year. The Royal Bank of Scotland may
:07:40. > :07:44.face losses of as much as $30 billion after it said it faced more
:07:45. > :07:50.than 5 billion for claims join the financial crisis. The bank's boss
:07:51. > :07:52.said the scale of the bank's bad decisions during the financial
:07:53. > :08:05.crisis meant that some problems were still just emerging. Indian
:08:06. > :08:11.conglomerate Tata's shares have dropped significantly after the
:08:12. > :08:16.death of its chief executive, Karl Slym in Bangkok on Sunday. He was in
:08:17. > :08:23.Thailand to attend a board meeting of the company's local affiliate.
:08:24. > :08:27.The Indian economy comes into focus today as the central bank decides on
:08:28. > :08:31.the cost of borrowing and its battle against rising prices. It will also
:08:32. > :08:38.present its report card on how the economy performed in the final three
:08:39. > :08:42.months of last year. We look at the challenges to the country's economic
:08:43. > :08:46.prosperity. Stitching together the various pieces of the economy, that
:08:47. > :08:51.is the basic task of any central bank. It's no different in the case
:08:52. > :08:55.of India but unfortunately for the Reserve Bank of India, the pieces it
:08:56. > :09:02.is trying to put together have not been cut to the same design.
:09:03. > :09:07.India's manufacturing sector is the key driver of the economy. It has
:09:08. > :09:11.slowed over the past few years, dragging down overall growth. Among
:09:12. > :09:16.the issues that have hit the sector are high interest rates. India's
:09:17. > :09:20.central bank has raised interest rates twice since September last
:09:21. > :09:23.year, making it more costly for businesses as well as consumers to
:09:24. > :09:29.borrow money. Critics argue that the moves have dented domestic demand.
:09:30. > :09:36.For its part, the central bank has so far resisted calls to lower rates
:09:37. > :09:39.to try to spare on the economy. It's reason is the stubbornly high
:09:40. > :09:44.inflation in the country. Rising consumer prices have been a major
:09:45. > :09:48.issue in Asia's third-largest economy and the country's key gauge
:09:49. > :09:52.of inflation hit a 14 month high in November. A week Indian currency has
:09:53. > :09:58.only added to the central bank's headache as it looks to keep price
:09:59. > :10:04.rises in check. Supporters of the policy argue that lower borrowing
:10:05. > :10:09.costs may do more harm than good. The subtle bank has a difficult
:10:10. > :10:14.decision to make. -- central bank. Does it move to encourage economic
:10:15. > :10:21.growth or does it stand firm to keep price prices in check? It will
:10:22. > :10:26.somehow have to fit together a compromise to please most of the
:10:27. > :10:31.stakeholders. However, that is easier said than done. Thank you for
:10:32. > :10:45.investing your time with us. Goodbye for now. This is BBC News. The
:10:46. > :10:51.Ukrainian president has agreed to scrap controversial anti-protest
:10:52. > :10:57.laws. Egypt's top military council has
:10:58. > :10:58.said the army chief and Defence Minister should listen to what it